As a Science Envoy, Hersam will travel to Eastern Europe to stimulate cooperation in the area of emerging technologies.

“It is a great honor to be selected as a U.S. Science Envoy for 2016,” said Hersam, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. “I anticipate opportunities to exchange ideas on how to accelerate the transition of fundamental scientific research to economic prosperity through education, entrepreneurship and commercialization.”

Hersam, who was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2014, is among five eminent scientists to receive the honor this year. The other recipients are:

Linda Abriola, professor and former dean at Tufts University School of Engineering

Daniel Kammen, distinguished professor of energy at the University of California-Berkeley and founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory

Margaret Leinen, director of the Scripps Institutions of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine sciences at the University of California-San Diego

Thomas Lovejoy, professor at George Mason University, senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation, former president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, and founder of the public television series Nature.

President Barack Obama launched the Science Envoy program in 2009 to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to science, technology and innovation as tools of diplomacy and economic growth. After traveling abroad, Science Envoys advise the White House, the State Department and the scientific community about potential opportunities for collaboration.